Peter Hall’s
revival of Coward’s Hay Fever will
preview from 6 April, opening on 19 April, with
a limited 18-week season until 5 August.
The king of social farces, Noel Coward,
famously whipped up this play in a mere 72
hours. Based on the life of the eccentric
American actress Laurette Taylor, the story
follows flighty thespian Judith Bliss (Dench),
who lives with her husband and children in an
idyllic rural abode, and invites a selection of
unwitting guests to join what becomes an
increasingly mad house.
Dame Judi Dench was last seen on a West
End stage in 2004 in the RSC’s All’s Well That
Ends Well at the Gielgud. She has most recently
starred on screen in Pride And Prejudice and has
just been BAFTA nominated for her star turn as
the feisty, stubborn widow Laura Henderson in
Mrs Henderson Presents, the Stephen Frears film
about London’s Windmill theatre and its penchant
for nude revues.
Dench’s on-stage husband David will be played by
Peter Bowles (Sleuth, Wait Until Dark on
stage), while Belinda Lang, best known as
the harried mum in TV series Two Point Four
Children, will play Myra Arundel and Kim
Medcalf (Eastenders’ Sam Mitchell) takes the
role of Sorel Bliss. Other cast members include
William Chubb, Charles Edwards and Dan Stevens.
Hay Fever is designed by Simon Higlett,
with lighting by Paul Pyant and sound by Gregory
Clarke. It is produced by Bill Kenwright and
Thelma Holt.
